Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Foreign countries all issued travel warnings to their citizens against imminent terrorist attacks in the country, which irked President Aquino, who claimed then that these foreign travel advisories were baseless, and demanded at least seven countries to withdraw their advisories.

But the foreign advisories proved to have a lot of substance, as just yesterday, a bomb planted under a seat in the bus travelling through Edsa-Makati went off, killing at least four passengers and injured dozens, all of whom were brought to the government hospital in Makati.

Yesterday’s bus blast succeeds in affirming that the Philippines, which has moved two notches up in this year’s global terrorism risk assessment, now ranks as the eighth most dangerous country in the world.

01/26/2011
Citing a Supreme Court (SC) ruling, Chief Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez yesterday snubbed the hearing set by the House committee on justice aimed at determining the validity of the plea bargain agreement entered into by the Office of the Ombudsman and retired Army Maj.Gen. Carlos Garcia in connection with the former military officer’s P303-million plunder case, lecturing panel chairman, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas on the principle of the separation of powers.

Getting even, the panel approved unanimously to subpoena Gutierrez and six others from the Office of the Ombudsman, an independent and constitutional body, for the next hearing scheduled on Feb. 1.

In a one-page letter addressed to committee secretary, lawyer Narcisa Guevarra, Gutierrez said that while she and subordinates would want to attend the committee hearing, certain legal issues restrict them from doing so.

For one, the Ombudsman said the Garcia case is still pending before the Second Division of the Sandiganbayan and any discussion on the issue might be construed as sub judice..... MORE

Amnestied Sen. Antonio Trillanes’ claims of a missing retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was a complete dud, as the “missing” former military comptroller showed up at the House of Representatives to face the panel’s interrogators yesterday.

Garcia showed up yesterday at the hearing of the House committee on justice and admitted he had initiated the plea bargain agreement he entered into with the Office of the Ombudsman after members of his family were incarcerated in the United States sometime in March, 2009 in connection with their P303-million plunder case.

Garcia, accompanied by lawyer Constantino de Jesus, however, would not disclose who in the Office of the Ombudsman was involved in the deal although he was quick to add the idea of a plea bargain “was already in the negotiation stage as early as May 2008.”

“Knowing that they (Office of the Ombudsman) have a weak case, I did not immediately succumb to the offer,” Garcia told Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez.

“I knew, from the very starts that which was important (to pin me down) was for a whistleblower to come out.”.... MORE

Government investigators plan to zero in on the involvement of law enforcers and even prosecutors in the recent wave of car theft incidents, the latest of which saw the brutal slaying of two vehicle dealers.

A joint panel of Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Depart-ment of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officials will look into reports of the supposed complicity of the police and members of the judiciary in allowing carjacking syndicates to ply their evil trade.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima speaking with reporters said the DILG has a list of law enforcers but could not be made public yet pending review of their records particularly involving car theft.

She said a joint department circular will be issued this week for the creation of the join investigating team.
.... MORE

By Michaela P. del Callar 01/26/2011
A prominent human rights watchdog yesterday blasted President Aquino for failing to live up to his commitment in providing justice for human rights abuses, eradicate private armies and address impunity by the Philippine police and military.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said seven months into his presidency, Aquino’s government “has taken insufficient steps to hold perpetrators of killings and other abuses accountable.

“President Aquino came to office promising that human rights would be a top priority,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But talk is cheap, so long as security forces remain unaccountable for violent abuses.”

In its 649-page World Report 2011, HRW described the Philippines as a multiparty democracy with a thriving civil society and vibrant media, but observed that law enforcement agencies and the military and police commit human rights violations with impunity.

The report is the group’s 21st annual review of human rights practices around the globe, which summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide..... MORE

Charter change advocates in the House of Representatives aren’t giving up the fight.
The House committee on constitutional amendments is set to launch an information drive on the issue of Charter change.

At a congressional hearing yesterday, the panel, headed by Loreto Leo Ocampos of Misamis Oriental, discussed the possibility of conducting yet another survey within their respective districts to get the pulse of their constituents regarding the proposed Cha-cha bills.

“There is a need to come up with an information drive to let the people know about Charter change,” Ocampos said during the hearing.

Ocampos maintained that there is now a growing sentiment for Charter change since President Aquino assumed office last year..... MORE

By Benjamin B. Pulta 01/26/2011
Murder charges have been filed before the Department of Justice (DoJ) against 38 soldiers in connection with the killing of noted botanist Leonardo Co and his two companions in the mountains of Kananga, Leyte on Nov. 15, 2010.

The criminal charges were filed by Co’s wife Glenda and parents Lian Sing Co and Emelina Co through their lawyer Evalyn Ursua against members of the Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion.

Ursua said Co’s relatives are also appealing to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to set aside the findings of the fact-finding committee that she created which cleared the military of any responsibility over the death of Co and his companions Sofronio Cortez and Julio Borromeo..... MORE

By Angie Rosales 01/26/2011
It will take three to five years to accomplish a total clean-up of the area in Makati City affected by the leak in the petroleum pipeline as there remains to be 1.8 million liters of oil that needs to be extracted from the ground.

Officials and consultants of First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) made the disclosure to Senate probers yesterday, on the last day of the upper chamber’s investigation into the petroleum seepage discovered last year.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the committee on environment and natural resources and overall lead in the proceedings in joint with the health and demography panel, said the so-called plumes due to the leak in the pipeline that is coming out of West Tower condominium is already “contained” and no longer pose a threat to the said building, residents and affected community in Barangay Bangkal, Makati City..... MORE

01/25/2011
Retired Sandiganbayan Justice Manuel Pamaran pointed to the former Ombudsman, Simeon Marcelo, and his special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio for the “weakness” of the plunder case against military comptroller dishonorably discharged Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, laying the blame on the two former officials.

“It was the team of Ombudsman Gutierrez’s predecessor who spearheaded the filing of the incomplete and deficient information against Garcia without the allegation stated therein validated,” Pamaran was quoted in a report as saying.

He stressed that “the Information filed was so worded in generalities. Even the resolutions, which paved the way for the filing of the plunder charge, did not provide any discussion on the specific acts of the accused that would qualify as unjustly enriching himself at the expense and to the damage of the Filipino people.”

Pamaran said the prosecution team formed in 2004 failed to gather the needed documentary and testimonial evidence to sustain the plunder charge against Garcia..... MORE

01/25/2011
Lawmakers always have the same knee-jerk reaction whenever a crime committed gets full publicity in media — especially in the broadsheets, and truly, it made the news only for want of news stories.

Right now, media’s flavor of the month is the carnap-murder of car dealers, which has the legislators all clamoring for the return of the death penalty for such crimes, or, in the case of Senators Chiz Escudero and Antonio Trillanes, proposing to make the crime of car jacks non-bailable.

The trouble is, this proposal, apart from being unconstitutional, since the Constitution expressly says in the Bill of Rights, that all persons, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua, or life sentences, when evidence is strong, shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, or be released on recognizance as may be provided by law. That right to bail shall not be impaired, even when the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended. Excessive bail shall not be required. (Article lll, Section 13).

What these provisions should mean is that even those accused of crimes that are punishable by life imprisonment can still avail themselves of bail — when the evidence against them is weak..... MORE

01/25/2011
PARIS — The best way to not forget a newly learned poem, card trick or algebra equation may be to take a quick nap, scientists surprised by their own findings reported Sunday.
In experiments, researchers in Germany showed that the brain is better during sleep than during wakefulness at resisting attempts to scramble or corrupt a recent memory.

Their study, published in Nature Neuroscience, provides new insights into the hugely complex process by which we store and retrieve deliberately acquired information — learning, in short.

Earlier research showed that fresh memories, stored temporarily in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, do not gel immediately.

It was also known that reactivation of those memories soon after learning plays a crucial role in their transfer to more permanent storage in the brain’s “hard drive,” the neocortex..... MORE

01/25/2011
And this is how it’s played: A group of people get together, analyze what’s going on, realize there’s something wrong and that the fault could get traced to them, so before that happens they point an accusing finger at others, in order to free themselves of whatever responsibility.

For instance, the Department of Justice says the New People’s Army killed botanist Leonard Co, farmer Julius Borromeo and forest guard Sofronio Cortez, November last year in Leyte. The DoJ likewise accused the Lopez-owned Energy Development Corp. (EDC) with “reckless imprudence” for failing to inform its three employees that they were to work in a known communist work area. Sinisi ang lahat, puwera lang ang military.

That Co and his group were caught in crossfire his scientist friends’ investigation hotly contests. The trees, they point out even in Facebook, are mute witnesses, as the bullets that hit them were from the side of the military. But whatever story the trees have to tell seem to bear no impact on the side DoJ investigators assistant state prosecutor Diosdado Solidum Jr., Bryan Cacha and NBI lawyer Romulo Asis have taken in their report: “The military or state forces could not be charged with criminal acts because their activities in the area were due to a legitimate military action.”

Kung baga, kahit na sino pa ang bumaril, hindi na mahalaga. Basta, “The military or state forces could not be charged with criminal acts…”.... MORE

01/25/2011
In cyberspace, there’s a document by one Porter Stansberry that in the course of over 12,000 words claims that, due to its crushing mountain of debt, the USA is about to implode, with soaring inflation, unemployment, riots and martial law. So what is this document? Essay? Scientific paper? No. It is, quite simply, an advertisement.

Although of US origin – where according to one source it was e-mailed to one million addresses last December – it is now doing the rounds in the Philippines. Recipients should be extremely wary of its arguments and claims.

Its author founded Stansberry & Associates Investment Research in 1999. This, he claims, “has become one of the largest and most recognized investment research companies in the world, serving hundreds of thousands of subscribers in more than 120 countries.” This is a claim that might bear careful examination, but this task is beyond me.

In making one of his claims (that even if Americans were taxed at the rate of 100 percent it would be insufficient to balance the federal budget) Stansberry cites the National Inflation Association. According to Mary Rice of Moneyblog, the NIA “is a group that encourages fears and worry about possible inflation in order to sell gold and silver.” Rice tells us that Fox’s Glenn Beck has also been known to cite NIA figures, and that he’s a promoter of a gold and silver dealer listed on the NIA Web site. Stansberry, as we will see, also promotes gold and silver.... MORE

01/25/2011
BEIJING — Miuccia Prada has already won plaudits for her spring/summer 2011 collection — simply-cut dresses and suits in a quirky mix of stripes and solids, with bold splashes of orange, violet and electric blue.

But by displaying the clothes on a runway in Beijing on Saturday evening, her first catwalk show outside Europe, and adding a few looks from her spring menswear line, the Italian designer signalled her focus on China’s huge market.

Actresses Gong Li and Maggie Cheung added a bit of high-wattage star power to the show at the Central Academy of Fine Arts museum — a surefire way to maximize local media coverage and get the Prada message to the masses.

China is the world’s fastest-growing market for luxury goods and is forecast to be the world’s top buyer of such products — cosmetics, handbags, watches, shoes and clothes — by 2015, according to consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers..... MORE

01/25/2011
There are more and more criminals in the country. There are more and more heinous crimes committed. There is more and more fear in the streets, in the community. Murders are ordinary events. Rapes are no longer big news. Hence, there is much anger among the people as there is a signal preoccupation among the legislators of the land.

Conclusion: After it was legislated, and after it was subsequently abolished, here we go again: There is loud clamor for the reinstitution of death penalty. Understandable but not acceptable.

This is not to say that the said reaction among the Filipinos and some members of the Legislative department is not pursuant to psychological and/or emotional factors. Yet, it remains unreasonable. There seems to be big cash and/or kind such as ransoms, cars, vendettas and other benefits. In this country, crime does pay particularly in no less than three counts.

First, there is the Legislative department itself that has been making more and more laws in the course of time, changing these in the course of time, if not actually abolishing them also in the course of time. It would not be an easy task to know or to keep track of what and how many laws the said department has enacted, derogated and/or abrogated in the past several decades and counting. By the way, the laws in the order of nature are but 10 which has been in fact even reduced into but Two – Love of God. Love of neighbor – in the order of grace. Yet, even these but Ten Commandments or simply Two Mandates are by and large ignored by humanity in general for centuries and counting..... MORE